SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Non-profit Sierra Donor Services recorded a record year for donations in 2023.
It helped facilitate the decisions of more than 170 donors to save more than 400 lives. Although more and more people are stepping up to the plate, there's still a major need.
According to Donate Life America, more than 100,000 people are on the organ transplant waitlist. One in five of them are in California. Encouraging organ donation has become a mission for Sacramento father Jess Chairez. It started with his son Joseph, a Sacramento police officer, back in 2000.
"When he was in the academy, he came to me and said 'Hey dad, if anything ever happens to me out in the street, I want to donate my organs,' and you know I looked him right in the eye and said, 'Nope,'" Chairez said. "Five and half months later on the job they were making an arrest and he collapsed out there on the street."
Doctors gave Joe a 30% chance of survival, but his Chairez said he knew his son wouldn't make it.
"I went off to a little corner, and I prayed simple little words. I said, 'God, what do I do? I told my son no that he couldn't donate,' and God gave me an answer right then and there. He told me that if I honored my son, I'd be honoring him," Chairez said.
When Joe's chances of survival became less and less likely, doctors asked if he would like to donate his organs.
"I stopped right where I was at and looked at them straight in the eye and as a proud father, now I said yes," Chairez said. "By the time I got to my wife, she just had enough strength to lift up her head. As I'm giving her a hug, she's trying to talk to me but the words wouldn't come out. I could read her lips and she said to me 'Thank you for honoring our son.' The recipients think they had a second chance at life, but I'm the one who got the second chance at life."
Joe donated six organs that saved four lives. Chairez was able to meet and form a friendship with the man who received Joe's heart and the man who received his lungs.
Now Chairez and his wife have made it their mission to raise awareness for the importance of donation. Especially bringing to light the need for Hispanic, Asian and Black donors. He said before his son's donation in 2000, no Hispanic person had donated in 10 years.
Sierra Donor Services Executive Director Sean Van Slyck said some common myths hold people back from signing up. One of those is that first responders won't help you in the event of a medical emergency.
"Hospitals are going to take care of every single individual. We're not called until after they've made all attempts to save an individual's life. I think some other myths we hear are I'm too old to donate, when in fact there's really no upper age limit. Anyone can help save a life," Van Slyck said.
There are multiple ways to sign up as an organ donor. Most people do so while getting their ID. You can also use the health app if you have an iPhone or sign up through Donate Life California.
Watch more on ABC10 | Black Maternal Health Week focuses on reproductive health care
